December 2004
December 2, 2004 "Your Destroyers ... Go Forth From You" - Again
December 2, 2004 THE BATTLE FOR AND AGAINST DISENGAGEMENT
December 3, 2004 Chutzpah and Hypocrisy!
December 3, 2004 Petition
December 7, 2004 Muslim "Moderates"
December 9, 2004 ARE JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND GAZA HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION?
December 10, 2004 De Tocqueville Versus Lewis & Pipes
December 12, 2004 Dr. Sari Nusseibeh: Be Wary of Deadly Coral Snakes....
December 12, 2004 Two States: a Temporary Solution
December 12, 2004 To: Brigadier General Rabbi Israel Weiss
December 13, 2004 Hanukka sparks of humanity
December 14, 2004 The Poodles Among Us
December 14, 2004 Another Tack: Lost chicken-sense
December 15, 2004 Worrisome Developments Regarding the Disengagement Plan
December 20, 2004 Long Live Pinchas Wallerstein!
December 21, 2004 Why is America upping the millions to the 'Palestinians'?
December 23, 2004 GOODBYE CHRISTMAS?
December 24, 2004 SHARON MERCILESSLY ABANDONS THE JEWS OF GUSH KATIF
December 24, 2004 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
December 29, 2004 Do a De Gaulle
December 29, 2004 For A Breath of Truth and Courage
December 30, 2004 JEWS AND CHRISTIANS, RALLY AROUND THE BIBLE!
December 31, 2004 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
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December 2, 2004
"Your Destroyers and Those Who Laid You Waste Go Forth From You" -
Again
Editorial (by Arieh Stav)
The reader is no doubt astonished by the fact that the current edition of
Nativ contains no
reference to the central issue on the national agenda, i.e.: the expulsion of
Jews from the
Gaza Strip and northern Samaria as a first stage of the anticipated ethnic
cleansing in
Judea, Samaria and Gaza; the problem is the lack of tools to address this
issue rationally.
Isn_t the very attempt to present and explain the political failure and the
moral disgrace,
which is Sharon_s action is an insult to the intelligence. Is it necessary to
again
emphasize that the introduction of the Egyptian army into the Gaza Strip is
a strategic
failure, the likes of which, in any proper country, would lead to the Prime
Minister's
removal within 24 hours and his being tried before a military tribunal on
counts of
treason? Is it not self-explanatory that the expulsion of Jews by Jews from
Judea, Samaria
and Gaza, the cradle of the Jewish nation and Zionism_s raison d_etre, is
sinking to
depths unprecedented in Jewish history? After all, everything has been
written and
rewritten and rehashed in the patient pages of this periodical.
However, is Sharon indeed guilty? True, a corrupt con artist captured the
Israeli
premiership, one who led his voters astray and stole their votes. However,
Sharon is not
alone. Sharon is only a manifestation of the spiritual and moral prostitution
of the general
public, which bows its head and acquiesces as if possessed by a demon.
The fact that a
majority of the government of the Jewish State, and all the more so the
Israeli Knesset,
supports transfer is testament to the moral bankruptcy and the system-
wide madness to
which we are all subject. This ease, with which Sharon collects these
wretched,
obsequious, avaricious souls to surround him in perpetrating a national
crime _ that is
what arouses horror and despair. Here we see the head of the Judenrat
appoints the
Jewish capo who entices the victims of the ethnic cleansing with bribes;
here the Jewish
policemen are preparing the detention pens to incarcerate opponents of
the expulsion;
here is the Jewish judge pleased with the result: The houses of those
expelled will be
destroyed, the work to which they devoted their lives is lost. Synagogues,
schools, public
institutions will be transferred to the murderers, the heirs of the Third
Reich.
Is it possible to imagine a similar phenomenon in a normal society, among
a populace,
which has not totally lost its survival instinct?
Can one imagine a more profound moral nadir than the _Israel Defense
Forces_ expelling
a Jew from his land and destroying his house? An army whose hands were
tied,
preventing them from liquidating the murderous Arab gangs, and was
therefore ordered
to turn on its own people? Here we see the Israeli Defense Minister
preparing the IDF
destruction units; while the same colorless, pathetic character, a former
IDF Chief of
General Staff, declares, _next year there will not be even one Jew
remaining in the Gaza
Strip_ _ has the man lost his mind to the point that he is quoting the
perpetrators of the
Final Solution? Indeed, if his scheme is successful, he will be able to rub
his hands and
note with satisfaction Also, Gaza ist Judenrein, to paraphrase the words
Hans Frank, the
executioner of Poland after the deportation of Warsaw_s Jews.
True, we can hope that ultimately Sharon will break his political neck and
his name will
be inscribed for eternal infamy in the annals of the nation. The question is
whether
together with him he will drag us down with him to oblivion. I know that
these are harsh
words and it is conceivable that the undersigned will be forced to pay the
price. However
in a world in which Sharon and his ilk are running free, sitting in detention
will be
considered an honor.
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December 2, 2004
THE BATTLE FOR AND AGAINST DISENGAGEMENT
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 2, 2004
Dear Friends,
The battle for and against disengagement is heating up amongst the Israeli
public.
Unfortunately, those who are for disengagement are in possession of very
powerful
means, i.e. they control the major newspapers, all radio outlets (since
Prime Minister
Sharon managed to get the only national radio station, Arutz 7, off the air),
and all the
television news channels. In addition, politicians who are in favor of
disengagement are
continually quoted in the media, whereas those who are against
disengagement seldom
get any publicity whatsoever.
Those members of the Israeli public who are against disengagement
definitely are a
growing majority. However, they do not have the opportunity to express
their opinions,
because the Leftist controlled media uses all possible means to prevent
them from doing
so.
An attempt to focus the discussion on this important issue was made by
Dr. David Matar,
by publicizing a letter which he had written to his commanding officer on
November 16,
2004.
To quote from Dr. Matar's letter, he states that he has been a Reserve
Medical Officer in
the Jerusalem Recruitment Office for fifteen years, on one day duty, which
usually
exceeds thirty days a year.
Dr. Matar describes Sharon's 'Disengagement' Plan as follows: "The term
'Disengagement' is a euphemism for the forcible expulsion of more than
8,000 Jews from
their homes and lifework in the Gaza district and the Northern Shomron,
and the
uprooting and destruction of tens of flourishing communities, including
every last
synagogue and cemetery.
"The Prime Minister has charged the army with the overall responsibility for
the
execution of his plan, even though the actual act of expulsion is supposed
to be carried
out by the Border Patrol and Police. The media is full of reports on serious
preparations
by the army to carry out Sharon's program, including detailed planning,
intelligence
gathering, training of picked army units on "dummy settlements", and the
construction of
detention camps for citizens who dare to resist, all with the openly declared
intention to
use any and all means to suppress any resistance of the Jewish residents
to expulsion
from their homes and destruction of their life's work.
"All this means that the army hierarchy has received and accepted orders
to declare war
on a large group of innocent and loyal citizens, to define them operationally
as a hostile
target, and to break into their homes by force, in order to drag out men,
women and
children. These are preparations for battle, by any definition, featuring
planned violence
by our security forces against Jewish citizens, which will degenerate very
quickly into
tragedies reminiscent of the Altalena episode. These self-inflicted losses
do not include
the heavy casualties in our midst from Arab fire during, and especially
after, the period
that the plan is carried out.
"This insane order is patently illegal, and therefore every soldier, Jew or
nonJew, should
adamantly refuse to obey. The IDF was founded to defend the people and
land of Israel
by fighting Arab enemies not by attacking Jewish brothers. In addition, as
a religious
Jew who tries to observe the Torah's commandments, I view any order that
conflicts with
the commandment of building the Land of Israel as equivalent to a
command that
attempts to impose the desecration of the Sabbath or the eating of swine.
Such orders
cross a red line, since they force the soldier to choose between his
commitment to the
most fundamental ideological principles, as opposed to his loyalty to the
institutions of
army and state.
"Even though I, personally, as a doctor in the Jerusalem Recruitment
office, do not expect
to receive orders to uproot our brothers from Gush Katif and the Northern
Shomron, I am
not even now able, emotionally and ethically, to serve in a hostile army that
has declared
war on me, on my family, on my friends and neighbors, and a large part of
our people.
This remains true even if a thousand "disengagement" laws are passed by
all 120 Knesset
members, with the combined sanction of a popular referendum, Israel's
Supreme Court,
the U.N., and the U.S. State Department.
"Therefore, I am hereby returning my army reserve card. I am, of course,
ready to bear
the consequences of this act including a court-martial."
* * *
Dr. Matar's letter initially created a great deal of media interest. The major
newspapers
asked for interviews, one of them even sent a photographer to his pediatric
clinic. Two of
the three news channels arranged for interviews on prime time television.
What was the
result? Nada. Nothing!
The appearance on television programs was cancelled without any
explanation. The
newspapers never used the photograph they had taken of Dr. Matar, while
interrupting a
busy day examining sick children. The story quickly died an unnatural
death. The only
publicity we received was by reproducing Dr. Matar's letter to his
Commanding Officer
as a paid ad in the Jerusalem Post.
Unintended help came from an op-ed article by Joshua Berman in
Yesterday's Jerusalem
Post (December 1, 2004) He writes that the army is not responsible for the
Disengagement Plan, AS IT IS MERELY THE EXECUTIVE ARM OF THE
POLITICAL ECHELON. [Emphasis is mine - R.M.]
But what if the political echelon gives an order which is patently immoral
and illegal? Is
David Matar and other reserve officers forced to go along with such an
order? Have we
learned nothing from the Nuremberg Trials, which were held after World
War II from
November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946?
The defense of most of those German Nazis accused of "crimes against
humanity" was
"that they were only following orders!"
Is it not a horrendous crime to expel 8,000 Jews from their homes in their
own Homeland
- men, women and children, to be forcibly dragged out of their homes, and
imprisoned
even if they just passively or verbally resist such expulsion? Would it not
be wrong for
Jews to follow such an illegal and immoral order?
What is about to happen in Israel - G-d forbid - is even worse than what
happened in
Germany during World War II. This time, the Sharon government is
planning to order
Jews to forcibly expel their Jewish Brethren from their homes.
Permit me to tell you about events in my childhood, which I try to forget -
Kristallnacht
in Wr. Neustadt, Austria. I was eight years old when Hitler annexed Austria
on March
13, 1938. On the night of November 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, the SS storm
troopers broke
down the doors to our home, and forcibly dragged my parents, my older
brother and
sister and myself, out of our house, barely allowing us to put on warm
clothing even
though it was bitterly cold outside. They herded us into police cars and
brought us to the
synagogue where all the town's Jews were subsequently brought. The
next day the only
food we were offered was a stew which contained pork. This was the
German sense of
humor. They well knew that it is forbidden for Jews to eat pork.
I will never forget what happened after the Germans had laughingly
removed the pork
stew. A young man in SS uniform, came up to me and surreptitiously
handed me a candy
bar. He told me he was a former employee of my father, but had been
unemployed since
my father's business was confiscated. "That is", he said, "why I had to join
the SS
[SchutzStaffel, the 'security' service of Adolf Hitler]. I don't like what
they're doing to
you Jews, but I have to follow orders, or they will punish me severely,
probably even kill
me."
History does repeat itself. Only now Jews are ordered by Israel's dictator
Ariel Sharon to
break into the homes of fellow Jews and forcibly drag them out. And all
this to reward
Arab terror? Have we become a nation of madmen?
Dear American Jews and Christians, Dear President Bush, Dear Members
of Congress,
do not become partner to this crime against humanity. You may have been
influenced by
the media that the majority of the People of Israel are in favor of
"disengagement" from
their Homeland. This is a deliberate falsehood. The majority of the Jewish
People do not
want to commit suicide. It is not in Israel's interest, nor in the interest of
the United
States to have an additional terror state in the Middle East - carved out of
the Holy Land.
Dear Friends, it is important that you forward this Letter from Jerusalem to
President
Bush and all your government representatives, your acquaintances, your
friends or
anybody else you might be able to influence. Please add to this email your
own feelings
on this very important issue.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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December 3, 2004
Chutzpah and Hypocrisy!
Let's imagine for a moment what would have happened if the CEO Arik
Reichman of the
company Tenuva had said that the Arab population in Israel is a "malignant
cancer in the
heart of the country." The Tenuva management would have issued an
immediate
apology, and, undoubtedly, the very same day they would have fired
Reichman. And if
not, the Arab population would have risen up, and there would have been a
vocal chorus
of outrage by the state media, the politicians, and all the "human rights"
activists.
Reichman said the above in an interview in the local media, about the
settlers of Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza. He singled out the most besmirched and persecuted
group in the
country. He addressed part of a public that, until now, has acted in a
servile manner by
turning the other cheek, barely responding to all the aspersions, the
insults, the spitting in
its face, and the other attacks directed against it. At long last, the settlers
of Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza have decided to respond to the delegitimation campaign
- as every
other self-respecting group would do. Their representative, the Yesha
Council called for
a boycott of all Tenuva products until the issuing of an apology. But
Reichman refused
to retract his scurrilous statement and said that his words had been
_misunderstood_..
But, wonder of wonders, instead of attacking the besmircher Reichman and
forcing
him to apologize, an all out attack was launched against the victim!. It was
instituted
against the settlers of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, who dared to react and
defend their good
name! The media, the politicians, and others all united in their protest
against the
_settlers_ and their supporters. How dare they boycott Tenuva? They
claimed that what
Reichman said was _free speech_. We can't remember when we last saw
such chutzpah
and hypocrisy. As we said in the beginning: how different would the
reaction have been
had Reichman said something similarly bad about the Israeli Arabs..
I hope that the settlers of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza and their many
supporters will not
capitulate, as their official representative, the Yesha Council, subsequently
did. We
must
continue the boycott of all Tenuva products.
Women In Green call upon all of its many members and friends to boycott
all Tenuva
products until its management changes its position on settlements in the
Land of Israel.
Reichman is a mere reflection of the hostile, disloyal and irreligious
attitude, which
some misguided people in Israel erroneously continue to hold. The
Biblical obligation is
quite explicit - the Jewish People must _settle_ in all parts of our Holy and
Promised
Land.
Nadia Matar,
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December 3, 2004
Petition
Last Sunday morning, we went to the entrance of the Jerusalem Central
bus station and
signed up reservists on the "I refuse to give a hand to the uprooting of
Jews from israel"
petition. We also handed out hundreds of copies of a small brochure on
which PM
Sharon's words were quoted: "As someone who served in the army many
years, I say,
orders must be obeyed. But, if an order is against your conscience, then
the soldier must
approach his officer individually, and tell him so, and bear the
consequences." PM
Sharon in a radio interview, July 1995.
The response was tremendous. In the one and a half hour, we managed to
gather 72
signatures of reservists. Many more promised us never to participate in the
crime of
deporting Jews , but were a little scared to sign.
Parents of soldiers also approached us saying they wanted to sign a
petition of parents,
telling their soldier-children not to give a hand in any uprooting of Jews
and destruction
of Jewish communities. We gathered an additional 80 signatures like that.
Join us this coming SUNDAY MORNING 9;30 A.M. at the ENTRANCE to
the
CENTRAL BUS STATION IN JERUSALEM once again.
PLEASE SPREAD THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE!:
THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES BE;LONGS TO ALL OF US.. ITS SOLE
PURPOSE IS TO FIGHT THE ARAB ENEMY .ITS PURPOSE IS NOT TO
FIGHT
THEIR JJEWISH BRETHREN. JEWS, THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN ARE
NOT
TO BE BE UPROOTED FROM THEIR HOMES, THEIR SYNAGOGUES AND
COMMUNITIES DESTROYED, THE BURIAL OF THEIR LOVED ONES
DESECRATED, IN THIS PROMISED AND HOLY LAND.!
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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December 7, 2004
Muslim "Moderates" By Prof. Paul Eidelberg
Daniel Pipes, a board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace, is one of four
members of
the Presidium of the Jerusalem Summit, ostensibly a conservative or right-
wing
organization that includes distinguished Israeli academics. Surprisingly,
various Muslim
"moderates" were invited to and spoke at the Summit's second annual 3-
day conference
in Jerusalem. The Summit not only focused on the subject of "moderate"
Islam, but also
called for action to help Muslim "moderates" magnify their influence in the
Islamic
world. This has been a mission of Daniel Pipes, a renowned expert on
Islam.
Consistent with that mission, Dr. Pipes distinguishes "militant Islam" or
"Islamism" from
Islam per se. However, as I show in A Jewish Philosophy of History," Islam
has always
been militant. Indeed, the fact that 9/11 was gleefully celebrated
throughout Islamdom
makes the distinction between "moderates" and "extremists" problematic.
Not that there are no Muslims who sincerely deplore Islamic extremists.
Pipes has
brought the names of some to the public's attention-surely those who
spoke at the
Jerusalem Summit. He succumbs to obscurantism, however, when he
admits that
"militant Islam, with its Westphobia and goal of world hegemony,
dominates Islam in the
West [my emphasis] and appears to many to be the only kind of Islam"
(Jerusalem Post,
September 24, 2003). Why only "in the West"? Doesn't "militant Islam"
dominate the
East-the heart of the Islamic world and its one billion and more
inhabitants?
But now I ask: "Why this attention to Muslim _moderates'-a politically
insignificant
number-when the United States and Israel are at war with Muslims?"
Imagine focusing
public attention on German "moderates" in the midst of World War II.
Wouldn't this be
disarming? That the Jerusalem Summit, reputedly a conservative
organization, should
focus on Muslim "moderates" while Muslims are slaughtering Jews in
Israel and
Americans in Iraq is bizarre.
The more so since Pipes has himself indicated that many "moderate"
Muslims may be or
become quiescent "extremists"! In Militant Islam Reaches America, he
quotes the
following spokesmen: (1) Algerian secularist Said Sadi: "A moderate
Islamist is
someone who does not have the means of acting ruthlessly to seize power
immediately."
(2) Osmane Bencherif, former Algerian ambassador to Washington: "It is
misguided
policy to distinguish between moderate and extreme Islamists. The goal of
all is the
same: to construct a pure Islamic state, which is bound to be a theocracy
and
totalitarian." (3) Mohammad Mohaddessin, director of international
relations for the
People's Mojahadin in Iran, a leading opposition force: "Moderate
fundamentalists do not
exist&. It's like talking about a moderate Nazi."
Here are Muslims or former Muslims who, contrary to Dr. Pipes, suggest
that what he
calls "militant Islam" or "Islamism" is authentic Islam! As Henri Boulad, an
Egyptian
Jesuit, and a specialist in Islam, states in an article, "L'Islamisme, c'est
l'Islam"
("Islamism is Islam"):This statement is perfectly consistent with history
and geography,
with the Quran and the sunna, with the life of Muhammad and the evolution
of Islam,
with what Islam says about itself. I reject the position of people-Muslims or
Christians-
who bury their heads in the sand like ostriches & refuse to see the situation
objectively,
or take their wishes for realities, on behalf of dialogue and tolerance.
Dr. Boulad evidently sees a clash of civilizations between Islam and the
West, a clash
clearly articulated by Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington and
exhaustively
documented by the gallant Bat Ye'or in Islam and Dhimmitude. Although
Pipes denies
this clash-he even contends that Islam is compatible with democracy-he
has assembled a
wealth of information confirming what he denies!
However, to minimize the appearance of this clash of civilizations, he
states in the
preface to the 2002 reprinting of his 1983 book In the Path of God: Islam
and Political
Power, that "militant Islam [is] best understood not as a religion but as a
political
ideology." To the contrary, Islam has always been a political ideology.
As the very subtitle of Pipes' book-Islam and Political Power-suggests, and
as its content
makes obvious, "However much institutions, attitudes, and customs have
changed, the
Muslim approach to politics derives from the invariant premises of the
religion and from
fundamental themes established more than a millennium ago" (my
emphasis).
Surely the most conspicuous theme of that religion, manifested throughout
Islamic
history, is none other than jihad-as Pipes demonstrates in a November
2002 article critical
of American professors who deny this doctrinal and existential fact. To
contend that
Islam and the West are not involved in a clash of civilizations when the
former is steeped
in absolutism, while the latter is mired in relativism, may be "politically
correct," but
dangerously so and symptomatic of declining confidence in the justice of
one's own
cause. Relativism comes in degrees.
Consistent with Pipes' politically correct view of Islam-and I applaud his
courageous
exposure of "militant Islam"-the Jerusalem Summit has established a
"Council of
Civilizations" as if no clash of civilizations exists. This suggests that there
is no
irreconcilable conflict between the Jewish State of Israel and Islam.
Needless to say, this
is not the way Muslims see Israel. They see things in terms of black and
white. The
second annual conference of the Jerusalem Summit does not seem to see
things in terms
of black and white. But this suggests that the Summit, contrary to its
literature-and
contrary to virtually all its many prestigious members-is based on crypto-
moral
relativism! Perhaps this is why it maintains that all religions lead "equally
to God."
Given the Summit's eminent and influential membership, such an
organization, in the
capital of Israel, needs to be carefully monitored-the more so in view of the
fact that it
equates civilizations not with ideas, values, and customs, but with defined
geographic
areas! Obscured in the process is not only the global magnitude of Islam,
but also the
idea of Hebraic civilization to which the best minds in Israel aspire!
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December 9, 2004
ARE JUDEA, SAMARIA, AND GAZA HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION?
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 9, 2004
Dear Friends,
Last night, we lit the second candle of the Chanukah holiday. Our whole
family was
sitting around the table, eating latkes and other goodies, with the children
excited about
the presents they have received. All in all, it was a grand party.
It was a happy occasion until our son David told us that he had just read on
the Arutz 7
news website the following bad news. These are excerpts from an article
entitled "US
and Israeli Officials: Yesha Headed for Destruction":
"The US demands that Israel evacuate and abandon all Jewish
communities behind the
anti-terror partition fence. So says Elliot Abrams, Director of the National
Security
Council Middle East section.
"Abrams gave this short-thrift treatment to the 250,000-strong, 35 year-old
Jewish
settlement enterprise when speaking to American Jewish leaders recently.
They were
visiting Washington when Abrams told them, 'It's clear to us that in the end,
the
settlements on the other side of the partition will be dismantled.'
"Abrams, considered a pro-Israel element in the American government,
said that the US
has no plans to suffice merely with the uprooting of the Jewish presence in
northern
Samaria and Gaza. He explained that the Americans will support Israel's
retention of
"settlement blocs" ONLY [emphasis is mine. --R.M.] if Israel uproots
everything else in
the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.
"Of even greater concern to pro-Yesha elements is a statement uttered just
yesterday in a
session of the Knesset Law Committee. Itamar Yaar, a senior figure in
Israel's National
Security Council, said outright, 'The goal of the disengagement plan is to
bring about a
new reality, a permanent arrangement in which there will not be Jewish
settlement in
these areas [Judea and Samaria].'"
* * *
Is this our Chanukah present, courtesy of Ariel Sharon and the American
government?
It is extraordinary, how history repeats itself. Also, that this announcement
came during
Chanukah.
The story of Chanukah is, of course, very much simplified in our
generation: "A small
band of courageous Maccabees fought the mighty Syrian-Greek army of
King Antiochus.
The miracle of Chanukah is the rededication of the Temple, and the triumph
of freedom
of religion in the face of oppression."
The TRUE Chanukah story is not so simple. Yes, the Maccabean wars were
fought
against a foreign occupying force, the Syrian-Greeks. But these wars were
also waged
against another enemy trying to destroy Israel as a Jewish entity, an enemy
WITHIN.
The Hellenized Jews at the time of the Hasmoneans were a dedicated group
of "worldly"
Jews drawn to the "beauty" of Greek culture and alienated from their own
heritage and
from the G-d of Israel. They existed to ingratiate themselves by serving the
whim of
their foreign patrons and to eliminate the yoke of their own heritage -- the
Torah. They
longed to be like the other nations of the world, free to indulge in whatever
they wished,
and to eradicate any vestige of what makes a Jew Jewish in the first place:
The G-d of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Land of Israel, and the Holy Torah itself.
The REAL battle of the Maccabees was not only against the Syrian-Greek
army of
Antiochus. It was also against their fellow Jews, who were willing to sell
out their
Jewish identity for universality, world citizenship, economic advancement,
and of course,
acceptance by other nations. They were even willing to give up the Holy
Temple, and to
allow Jerusalem to become a Greek city, all in order to obtain for
themselves "the good
life", and to become enlightened "citizens of the world".
Today, our modern assimilationists are very much like the Hellenists of old.
We have
our own version of disloyal high priests and our own Hellenizers -- the
Sharons, the
Olmerts, the Shimon Pereses, the Tommy Lapids, and others too numerous
to mention.
What makes the leader of the Hellenists, Ariel Sharon, run? Sharon, who
personally
induced and himself helped his fellow Jews settle in Judea, Samaria and
Gaza?
Aryeh Stav wrote an editorial in the Israeli Magazine 'Nativ', entitled "Your
Destroyers
and Those Who Laid You Waste Go Forth from You":
"Sharon's actions are an insult to the intelligence. Is it necessary to again
emphasize that
the introduction of the Egyptian army into the Gaza Strip is a strategic
failure, the likes of
which in any proper country, would lead to the Prime Minister's removal
within 24 hours
and his being tried before a military tribunal on counts of treason? Is it not
self-
explanatory that the expulsion of Jews by Jews from Judea, Samaria and
Gaza, the cradle
of the Jewish Nation and Zionism's raison d'etre is sinking to depths
unprecedented in
Jewish history?
"A corrupt con artist captured the Israeli premiership, one who led his
voters astray and
stole their votes.
"Can one imagine a more profound moral nadir than the 'Israeli Defense
Forces' expelling
a Jew from his Land and destroying his house? An army whose hands
were tied
preventing them from liquidating the murderous Arab gangs, and was
therefore ordered
to turn on his own people?
"I know that these are harsh words and it is conceivable that the
undersigned will be
forced to pay the price. However, in a world in which Sharon and his ilk are
running
free, sitting in detention will be considered an honor."
* * *
Thus, on one side we have today's Hellenists, the enemies within, who are
willing to sell
out their Jewish brethren. But who is the modern equivalent of the Syrian-
Greek Army
of King Antiochus?
Is it all the anti-Semitic countries in the world? Is it the members of the
Quartet, Russia,
the United Nations, the European Union and the United States?
Undoubtedly, some of
these countries have joined the modern equivalent of the Army of
Antiochus.
However, I think we must rid ourselves of the comfortable fiction that poor
Ariel Sharon
is being unbearably pressured by the United States and its President,
George W. Bush.
Sharon, for his own reasons, (avoiding prosecution for his and his family's
alleged
questionable actions in the past, his persistent legal problems, etc.) has in
effect, told the
United States: "It would be helpful for you to put pressure on Israel. This
would achieve
goals which would be beneficial for both of us." Can we really blame the
United States
government, especially its State Department, for gratefully accepting a
diplomatic
geopolitical victory, which supposedly would have a positive effect on the
relationship
with approximately 1.4 billion Muslims?
However, it is certainly a danger sign when Elliot Abrams, the Director of
the United
States National Security Council Middle East section, declares that the
American
government wants to uproot virtually all settlements in Judea and Samaria.
Who does he
speak for, President George W. Bush or the U.S. State Department? I doubt
if Mr.
Abrams speaks for Congress or for the Christian Evangelicals, many of
whom refer to
themselves as Christian Zionists.
The Los Angeles Times noted, not to happily, after the American election:
"Christian
Evangelicals provided much of the passion and manpower for President
Bush's
reelection" (November 12, 2004).
In the words of the Christian leader Pat Robertson, "Evangelical Christians
support Israel
because we believe that the words of Moses and the ancient prophets of
Israel were
inspired by God. We believe that the emergence of a Jewish State in the
Land promised
by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was ordained by God.
"You must realize that the God who spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai is our
God.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our spiritual Patriarchs. Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and Daniel are
our prophets. King David, a man after God's own heart, is our hero. The
Holy City of
Jerusalem is our spiritual capital. And the continuation of Jewish
sovereignty over the
Holy Land is a further bulwark to us that the God of the Bible exists and
that His Word is
true.
"Make no mistake: the entire world is being convulsed by a religious
struggle. The fight
is not about money or territory; it is not about poverty versus wealth; it is
not about
ancient customs versus modernity. No, the struggle is whether Hubal, the
Moon God of
Mecca, known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the God of the Bible is
Supreme.
"If God's chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred
sites, if they
surrender to Muslim vandals the tombs of Rachel, of Joseph, of the
Patriarchs, of the
ancient prophets, if they believe their claim to the Holy Land comes only
from Lord
Balfour of England and the ever fickle United Nations rather than the
promises of
Almighty God - then in that event, Islam will have won the battle.
Throughout the
Muslim world the message will go forth: "Allah is greater than Jehovah.
The promises of
Jehovah to the Jews are meaningless. We can now, in the name of Allah,
crush the Jews
and drive them out of the land that belongs to Allah."
"In short, those political initiatives that some have asserted will guarantee
peace, will in
truth guarantee unending struggle and ultimate failure. Those political
leaders who only
understand the secular dimension of Israel's existence and dismiss the
spiritual dimension
will find that they receive the mess of pottage of Esau rather than the
inheritance of
Jacob."
* * *
The present situation in Israel now is becoming unbearable. Sharon is a
virtual dictator
and is hell bent on getting his own way. He is pursuing policies which are
not in the
Jewish nation's interest. A civil war is unfortunately a possibility. It is
definitely not in
the interest of the United States to decimate and destabilize the Jewish
Nation, and to
create an additional terrorist state in the Middle East.
Dear Friends, it is in the power of Christian Zionists to stop this madness
of the modern
equivalent of the Hellenists and the Army of Antiochus to try to cause a
second
Holocaust. It is not only in your power, but it is your responsibility to make
clear to
whoever in the American government is contemplating to uproot Jewish
communities in
the Holy Land, that this is directly against the Word of G-d.
Please don't put off writing to President George W. Bush, Vice President
Dick Cheney,
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, your Senators and your Congressman, and tell them
how strongly
you feel about the survival of the Jewish State. Also tell the American
government
representatives how important it is that the United States not become a
partner to the
Crime of uprooting
G-d's People from the Holy Land.
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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December 10, 2004
De Tocqueville Versus Lewis & Pipes
By Prof. Paul Eidelberg
Anyone who has read Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America
knows of his
extraordinary mind. He was not only a wise, penetrating, and prophetic,
but his was an
aristocratic mind: magnanimous, urbane, and free from sectarian prejudice.
Hence one
should take all the more seriously his assessment of Islam:
I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the
conviction that by
and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as
that of
Muhammad. So far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence
so visible
today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of
old, its social
and political tendencies are in my opinion more to be feared, and I
therefore regard it as a
form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism
itself.
Can anyone imagine scholars like Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes hinting,
let alone
saying, such a thing today about Muslims? True, when de Tocqueville was
writing in the
second third of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was in decline; but I
do not see
how this could affect his evaluation of Islam.
There were no "Islamists" in de Tocqueville's time, to be distinguished
from Islam per
se, as "Islamists" are so distinguished by Messrs. Pipes and Lewis. There
were no
Muslim suicide bombers whose barbarism was cheered by the Islamic
world. If de
Tocqueville were alive today, he would surely see that Islam is now more
decadent than
it was in the 19th century.
So how shall we account for the "polite"—or should I say "politically
correct"—attitude
of Lewis and Pipes vis-à-vis Islam? Comparisons are invidious, but these
American
scholars—Lewis was born and educated in England—are not more
magnanimous or
urbane than de Tocqueville. Of course, unlike de Tocqueville, Lewis and
Pipes are Jews,
and this alone might deter them from disparaging Islam.
They are also the products of the 20th century, the century of triumphant
democracy and
triumphant secularism, which would prompt them to regard all religions as
equal or with
skepticism. Nor is this all.
Both Lewis and Pipes are historians, and there is a strong tendency among
historians to
succumb to historicism, i.e., historical relativism. Historicism is a denial of
trans-
historical or absolute truths. If Lewis and Pipes have been influenced by
historical
relativism, they would tend to be non-judgmental vis-à-vis Islam.
Of course they can still write, as Lewis does, about "Islamic rage," or as
Pipes does,
about "militant Islam." But here it could be said they are being descriptive,
not
judgmental, even thought neither of these scholars approve of Islamic rage
or Islamic
militancy. Common sense or reality trumps historical relativism.
It should also be noted that Professor Lewis, the doyen of Islamic
scholarship, is well-
received in various Islamic countries, which of course would be impossible
if he were
critical of Islam. As for Dr. Pipes, he is a public official, a board member of
the U.S.
Institute of Peace, which also precludes his being judgmental about Islam.
Hence, with all due respect for their eruditions and achievements, but in
view of their
being Jewish as well as secular democrats, I do not believe that either of
these scholars
can be wholly relied upon for a candid assessment of Islam.
I will go even further. If Lewis and Pipes were citizens of Israel, I dare say
their view of
Islam would not differ substantially from that of Professor Moshe Sharon
and of the late
Professor Yehoshafat Harkabi—both of the Hebrew University. Even
though these two
Israeli academics represent, respectively, the right and left ends of the
political spectrum,
they agreed on the militant and mendacious nature of Arab-Islamic culture.
Therefore, Israeli policy-makers and opinion-makers—and those who
organize
international conferences in Jerusalem involving Islam—should be wary of
relying too
much on the views of Messrs. Lewis and Pipes, which is not to say these
two scholars
should not be seriously studied. One should bear in mind, however, that
what may be
"politically correct" and even commendable scholarship in America may be
deadly in
Israel.
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December 12, 2004
Dr. Sari Nusseibeh: Be Wary of Deadly Coral Snakes Posing as Harmless
Skipjack
Snakes
by Yoram Ettinger Yediot Aharonot August 20, 2002
The Oslo Architects, Department of State officials, the UN, The New York
Times, The
Washington Post and human rights activists have heralded Dr. Sari
Nusseibeh, a key PLO
operative and the President of Al-Quds University, as a man of peace.
Really?!
In a January 21, 2001 letter to Saddam Hussein, Nusseibeh wrote: In the
name of Al-
Quds University...allow me to express the admiration of the Palestinians for
your
honorable positions... You represent the vanguard of steadfastness... We,
in Jerusalem,
are inspired by you... We are proud
to belong to a nation, which considers you a symbol of resistance and a
symbol of its
greatness...
Ten years earlier, During the 1991 Gulf War, Nusseibeh was arrested by
Israel's police
for collaborating with Saddam, in an attempt to improve the accuracy of
Saddam's Scud
missiles fired at Israel. According to the February 8, 1991 issue of the
Ha'aretz (dovish)
daily, Yossi Sarid, a leader of Israel's Left, told supporters that he would
not attend any
rally on behalf of Nusseibeh, "since the arrest was not politically-
motivated."
Roni Milo, another dovish politician, then the Minister of Police, stated on
February 7,
1991 (Ha'aretz) that "Nusseibeh performed severe acts of treachery and
collaboration
with the enemy." Judge Vardi Zeiler, President of the Jerusalem County
Court, confirmed
(Ha'aretz, February 4, 1991) that "Nusseibeh's arrest was on national and
personal
security grounds." On January 31, 1991 Ha'aretz reported that Nusseibeh
transferred
hundreds of thousand dollars to Palestinian terrorist cells during the Gulf
War. But, Sari
Nusseibeh is a man of peace...
Nusseibeh's philosophy on the dismantling of Israel was detailed in his
own September
15, 2000 document, written in Arabic. He concluded that the "Algeria
Model", which
calls for the military destruction of Israel, has portrayed Arabs as
aggressors. Therefore,
suggested Nusseibeh, it has to
be replaced by the "South African Model", featuring integration as a means
of the
eventual dismantling of the Jewish state. According to Nusseibeh, the
"South African
Model" - bolstered by a more positive balance of power - would then
transform Israel
from a Jewish state, dominated by "a Zionist racist regime", to a
Palestinian democratic
secular state. That state would stretch from the Jordan River to the
Mediterranean. He
emphasized that the South African Model - which would facilitate the
eventual return of
the 1948 refugees to "their homes" - does not entail a ceasefire. But, Sari
Nusseibeh is a
man of peace...
Nusseibeh's authentic position on the "right of return" of the 1948
refugees (a
euphemism for the annihilation of Israel) was expressed in a March 6, 2002
news release
to the Arab media: Israel has to assume responsibility for the plight of the
Palestinian
refugees, and to recognize their natural right to return... The
implementation of UN
resolution 194 (December 11, 1948) mandates Israel to pay full
compensation to the
Palestinian refugees, and to discuss the return of those wishing to do so.
But, Sari
Nusseibeh is a man of peace...
Nusseibeh's accurate position on homicide bombers was exposed during a
June 29, 2002
(Al Jazirah) TV discussion, in Arabic, with Khalid Mashal, a Hamas leader,
and Umm
Nidal, a proud mother of a homicide bomber, seated next to him. Following
up on
Mashal's and Umm Nidal's praising of terrorism, Nusseibeh contended:
"Hats off to
Umm Nidal, and to any warrior of Palestinian jihad [Holy War]... Listening to
Umm
Nidal, I recall the Qur`anic verse stating that Paradise is at the feet of
mothers... I do not
wish to mix politics with the respect felt by each Palestinian toward jihad
warriors..." On June 21, 2002 Nusseibeh sponsored a full-page
advertisement, published
by PLO dailies (and grossly misrepresented by Western media), calling "to
reconsider
military action against civilians within the Green Line... since it does not
advance the
political goals of the Palestinian People..." He did not call for the end of
homicide
bombing; did not urge reconsideration due to normative-moral reasons,
but due to
"pragmatic" reasons. But, Sari Nusseibeh is a man of peace...
It was Arafat who appointed Nusseibeh to the post of Presidency at Al-
Quds University
in Jerusalem. Arafat has appointed each of the members of the board of the
University,
has supervised the activities of the university, has controlled and approved
the budget of
the Jerusalem-based university, which has been registered at the registry
of the
Palestinian Authority, in clear and striking violation of the Israeli law. An
August 2001
document submitted to Arafat, by Nusseibeh, confirms that Al-Quds
University has
become - under the leadership of Sari Nusseibeh - the Jerusalem
headquarters for the
PLO/PA (Palestinian Authority), preoccupying itself with the organization of
anti-Israel
rallies, anti-Israel propaganda, illegal construction in order to "stop the
Judaization of
Jerusalem",support of families of Palestinian terrorists, the repartitioning
of Jerusalem
and other illegal activities. But, Sari Nusseibeh is a man of peace...
Nusseibeh has become a polished edition of the late Feisal Husseini, who
has been
exposed by the Orient House Archive as a corrupt leader, a supporter of
terrorism,
instigator of violence, agitator of Israeli Arabs, violator of the law, who
considered the
Oslo Accords to be the Palestinian Trojan Horse, hauled by Israel into
Jerusalem, thus
causing the demise of the Jewish state. But, Sari Nusseibeh is
supposedly a man of
peace...
Israeli and Western supporters of Sari Nusseibeh applauded the Oslo
Accords in 1993,
heralded Arafat as a worthy Nobel Laureate in 1994, and fiercely opposed
the closure of
Feisal Husseini's Orient House in 2001. Rather than learning from their
own devastating
errors of judgment, they
have systematically repeated their mistakes, thus exacerbating an
explosive reality,
boosting the maneuverability of Palestinian terrorists and undermining the
prospects for
peace. Their continued support of Sari Nusseibeh and other leaders of the
terrorist
PLO/PA, who pose as men of peace, precludes the emergence of an
alternative peaceful
Palestinian leadership.
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December 12, 2004
Two States: a Temporary Solution by Steven Shamrak
PLO Foreign Minister Faruq Kaddumi has reiterated the end-goal of the
creation of a
Palestinian state alongside Israel: a Palestinian state instead of Israel.In re-
affirmation of
the PLO's 1974 "destroy Israel" program, commonly known as the Phased
Plan (see
below), Fatah co-founder Farouk Kadumi termed the struggle for a two-
state solution just
a "stage" on the road to "only one [Arab state]." Kadumi spoke on Nov.
29th with Iran's
Al-Aram television station. When the interviewer asked Kadumi, "What is
the future of
Palestine?" the PLO leader answered: "At this stage there will be two
states. Many years
from now there will be only one."He expressed confidence in the Arabs'
ultimate victory,
saying, "[Thereare] 300 million Arabs, while Israel has only the sea behind
it."
The basic principle of the 1974 Phase Plan is that the PLO would struggle
to initially
establish an "independent combatant national authority" over any territory
"liberated"
from Israeli rule. That "national authority" would then be used as a base for
continued
terror attacks. The final phase of the plan is all-out war against Israel by all
her Arab
neighbours with the hope of destroying the Jewish State entirely. (Arabs
have been
saying it, without changing their position, all the time. This is not a joke.
Anything else is
just a _smoke screen') ...
Polls: Barghouti leads. Opinion polls showed that jailed ( convicted of
murdering Jews)
Marwan Barghouti poses a threat to Mahmoud Abbas in the Jan. 9 PA
presidential
election. Two of the polls published Monday predicted a tight race between
Abbas and
Barghouti, while a third gave Abbas the advantage. However, Barghouti's
associates say
he might yet withdraw in exchange for reform promises from Abbas. (Both
men are
committed terrorists. But, Arab Palestinians prefer one with more Jewish
blood on his
hands. Election is a con! World still calls it a step toward democracy?)
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December 12, 2004
To: Brigadier General Rabbi Israel Weiss, Chief Rabbi of the IDF
From: Jonathan Pollard, 09185-016; FCI Butner, Butner NC, USA
Dear Rabbi Weiss,
As you know, our tradition teaches that a Jew does not sin unless he is
afflicted by temporary insanity, a "ruach shtut". How else are we to
understand why a G-d -fearing Jew like yourself, the Chief Rabbi of the
IDF, would declare his support for orders to uproot thousands of Jews
from
their homes in the Land of Israel? I refer to your recent comments on IDF
Radio supporting the evil disengagement plan and identifying secular
military commanders and state officials as the ultimate authority which
soldiers must obey. "Refusal to carry out orders is liable to bring about
the collapse of the army and the end of the People of Israel's task," you
said. "The army, the state is the authority." "We can't allow a soldier
to do whatever he wants. This will bring a danger that the army will end
its function and this nation will end its task," you declared.
With all due respect, Rabbi, it is difficult to imagine that you truly
believe that it is the state and the army alone which protect us and ensure
our viability as a People! The Jewish People lived for 2000 years without
a state and without an army, under the grace of
G-d Almighty - it is only because of His loving kindness and His will
expressed as through the Laws of Torah, that we live in the Land today and
continue to thrive as a People. When you visited with me 2 months ago, I
told you that HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu, shlita, is my father. You replied
joyfully, "We are sons of the same father! He is my father too!" You said
that you consider HaRav Eliyahu to be your superior in Torah, and that
before issuing any important Halachik ruling for the army, you first
consult with him.
Surely you are aware that HaRav Eliyahu has unequivocally declared that it
is forbidden for G-d -fearing soldiers to obey orders to uproot Jews from
the Land! HaRav Eliyahu has ruled that it is better for soldiers to sit in
prison than to take part in the expulsion of Jews from their homes. Rabbi
Weiss, in light of your apparent disregard for the psak Halacha of your own
rabbinic superior, how can you expect thousands of soldiers to rely on
you?
In my dealings with Jewish leaders over the past 20 years, it is clear to
me that often Heaven raises a man up to a position of power and authority
not as a reward, but as a test. It is obvious that in this lifetime, G-d
has placed you, of all men, in the unique position of being able to
single-handedly defeat the immoral disengagement plan. You, amongst all
men, can say "No!" to disengagement, and in so doing, support thousands
upon thousands of soldiers to do the same! No other rabbi living in the
Land today, is in such a powerful position as your are, in regard to this
issue.
Just as good government never depends on laws, but upon the moral
character
of those who govern, so too an army depends not upon specific orders, but
upon the personal qualities (midot) of its leaders. The functioning of the
army is always subordinate to the will of those who administer it. The most
important element of an army is who its leaders are. And Torah is the
software that transforms it into a Jewish army. Without our divine
software, we are nothing but machines and uniforms.
Rabbi Weiss, it appears that you are now being tested as both soldier and
rabbi. You must now choose between your officer's commission and the
yoke
of Torah; between serving G-d or serving man.
Your choice will set the model for all G-d -fearing soldiers. It will also
determine whether your name is revered for all generations as the rabbi
who
stood up to secular power in defense of the Land; or, G-d forbid,
remembered as the rabbi who betrayed Jewish soldiers into defaming
Torah
and desecrating the Land.
Therefore, I plead with you to retract your statements regarding the
disengagement plan! It is imperative that you issue a new ruling in
harmony
with the psak Halacha of HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu. Retracting now,
especially
since it is Chanukah, would be a great kiddush HaShem, in the best
tradition of Mattityahu HaMaccabee himself.
I implore you to act now in the tradition of Gideon, of Yehoshua Bin Nun,
and of Yehuda HaMaccabee! Be a Jewish warrior in defense of the Land!
Say
"No!" to disengagement! Kavod HaRav, by retracting your previous
position
and openly encouraging soldiers not to participate in uprooting Jews from
the Land, you will create a powerful model of Tshuva not only for the
soldiers but for all of Israel. You will bring relief to the Nation and
honor to the Israel Defense Forces.
As it is written in Tehillim: "Some trust in chariots, some trust in
horses; but we rely solely upon Hashem, our G-d!" As upholders of Torah
we
know that G-d and G-d alone is the ultimate authority for a Jew.
Respectfully,
Jonathan Pollard
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December 13, 2004
Hanukka sparks of humanity by Rabbi Stewart Weiss, The Jerusalem Post
Precisely when times are darkest, the Jewish soul shines its most brilliant
light. In
moments of our deepest despair, we have refused to give in to the Gloom,
instead
exhibiting a remarkable resiliency, resourcefulness and spirit of renewal.
This was true in
the throes of the Egyptian exile; it was true following the destruction of
Jerusalem in
Temple times; it was true in the aftermath of the Inquisition. When it
appeared that our
flame had flickered for the last time, we sprang back and rebuilt ourselves,
much to the
amazement _ or chagrin _ of the world at large.
One does not have to read ancient history to discern the irrepressible
Jewish spirit. We
can see it reflected in the eyes of anyone who lived through the Holocaust.
No one could
have predicted that these tortured remnants of European Jewry would
emerge from the
ashes of Auschwitz to forge new lives, let alone build a State of Israel and
defend it
against all odds. Their heroism is the collective story of millions of
individual acts of
courage and hesed. My mother-in-law, who survived Auschwitz, relates
how the women
in her barracks would greet new arrivals in the camp, some of who had
traveled more
than 20 hours in cramped rail cars without food or water: While German
guards watched
their every move, they would kiss the newcomers on the lips, transferring a
mouthful of
water they had saved for them from their meager daily rations.
In the hopeless squalor of the ghetto, the Jews of the Shoah maintained
schools, clinics
and heders until the very last moment. Parents insisted their children
continue music
lessons, and strangers were invited to share every centimeter of livable
space. In the most
hellish of circumstances, we never lost our hope, our dignity, our
mentschlachkeit. The
law of the jungle never became our law. But we don't even have to go back
a half-century
to see the light that has come pouring out of dark corners.
Just look at all the amazing expressions of spirit exhibited by victims of the
Palestinian
Terror War. While some of the bereaved families have understandably been
immobilized
by depression and sadness, the vast majority of victims have chosen to
build, create, and
enlighten other lives in memory of their martyred loved ones. A small
sampling: A
suicide bomber in Tel Aviv blew up Yoni Jessner, a Scottish medical
student studying in
Israel, in September 2002. In his memory, scholarships are given by his
family to other
medical students to spend a year here to study. Young, beautiful, talented
Malki Roth was
murdered in the Sbarro massacre. In response, the Roths created Keren
Malki, providing
home care for seriously disabled children. Koby Mandell was only 13 in
2001, when his
severely battered body was found in a cave in the Judean desert. Camp
Koby now hosts
hundreds of terror victims each summer. The Gideon family made aliya in
1988. In the
course of their perilous journey from Ethiopia to Israel, nine of their 12
children perished.
One of their only two remaining sons, Malato, joined the Nahal brigade's
elite Palchan
unit, and was killed in the 1997 helicopter disaster. His family built a
synagogue in his
name in Lod, and is now dedicating a Torah scroll in his memory.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the efforts of my own wife, who
directs the
packaging and sending of food and gifts to IDF soldiers in the field in
memory of our son
Ari, also a member of the Palchan unit, who was killed two years ago in a
raid on Hamas
headquarters in Nablus. Jews who have faced tragedy and death know
better than anyone
how precious life is, and how short time in this world can be. And so an
amazing
percentage of those who have suffered most have decided to ease the
sufferings of others
and try to make this world a better place.
In spite of _ no, because of _ all we have endured, we desperately want to
create new
sparks of humanity where others were extinguished. Not so our enemies,
alas. While our
suffering breeds love, theirs generates hate. Spurred on by cynical leaders,
caught up in a
culture of revenge, they revel in the violence and scream for more. It is
telling that the
Palestinians, despite all the billions taken in during their intifada, have not
built a single
hospital in any of the territories they control. Hospitals prolong life, an item
that has not
been high on their leadership's agenda. Ultimately, we will prevail in this
battle of wills
because, as Hanukka so clearly proclaims, even the smallest candle can
dispel a multitude
of darkness.
The writer is director of the Ohel Ari Jewish Outreach Center in
Ra'anana
(jocmtv@netvision.net.il).
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December 14, 2004
The Poodles Among Us By Prof. Paul Eidelberg
In his 2002 foreward to Raphael Patai's 1973 classic, The Arab Mind,
Norvelle B. de
Atkine writes: "This book & forms the basis of my cultural instruction,
complemented by
my own experiences of some 25 years living in, studying or teaching about
the Middle
East."
De Atkine notes that "officers returning from the Arab world describe the
cultural
barriers they encounter as by far the most difficult to navigate, far beyond
those of
political perceptions. Thinking back on it, I recall many occasions on
which I was
perplexed by actions or behavior on the part of my Arab hosts-actions and
behavior that
would have been perfectly understandable had I read The Arab Mind."
To speak of Arabs is to speak of Muslims, for Arab culture is permeated by
Islam.
Islamic hatred of America and of Israel is more intense and more
widespread today than
it was in 1973. American pop culture and commercial imperialism
constitute a threat to
the Arab's tradition-based society, and Muslims see Israel as America's
vanguard in the
Middle East.
Patai, says de Atkine, does not deny the virtues of Arab culture. "The
hospitality,
generosity, and depth personal friendships common within the Arab world
are rarely
encountered in our more frenetic society. The Arab sense of honor and of
obligation to
the family-especially to the family's old and young members-can be
contrasted to the
frequently dysfunctional family life found in our own society&"
But such is the burning hatred Arabs bear toward Jews that many willingly
use their own
children as human bombs, while the Arab street cheers such self-
immolation. Hatred
trumps love. Arab hatred was not born with the Balfour Declaration or the
establishment
of the State of Israel. It precedes Muhammad and remains deeply
engrained in Arab
culture.
Patai quotes Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), the greatest historian ever produced
by the
Arabs. Khaldun's portrait of Arab national character is that of a historian
who could look
back upon seven centuries of Arab history. The Arabs, he says, "are
people who plunder
and cause damage." The civilizations they conquer are "wiped out."
"Places that
succumb to the Arabs are quickly ruined." "The reason for this is that [the
Arabs] are a
savage nation, fully accustomed to savagery &" "Savagery has become
their character
and nature. They enjoy it because it means freedom from authority and no
subservience
to leadership. Such a natural disposition is the negation and antithesis of
civilization."
Again, "because of their savagery, the Arabs are least willing of nations to
subordinate
themselves to each other, as they are proud, ambitious, and eager to be the
leader."
(Recall Genesis 16:12 on the character of Ishmael: "He will be a rebel. His
hand will be
against everyone, and everyone's hand will be against him.")
The Arab's sense of honor is notorious. Any insult or injury, let alone
defeat in war, must
be avenged. The Yom Kippur War was nothing less than an act of revenge
for Israel's
victory in the Six-Day War-and that is why the war was launched on the
holiest day of
the Jewish calendar.
Any bellicose people are well-practiced in deception; as for the Arabs,
however, one
must add they are unequalled in the art of ingratiation. Khaldun's disciple,
Taqi al-Din
Ahmad al-Maqrizi (1364-1442), an Egyptian, writes that Egyptians "are
extremely
inclined to cunning and deceit, from their birth they excel in it and are very
skillful in
using it, because there is in their character a basis of flattery and adulation
which makes
them masters in it more than all the peoples who have lived before them or
will live after
them."
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's campaign of deception before the Yom
Kippur War is
documented in my book Sadat's Strategy. But he was also a master of
ingratiation. He
constantly referred to Secretary of State William Rogers, whom he had met
for the first
time, as "Bill." When Secretary Kissinger replaced Rogers, he became
"dear Henry" just
as quickly.
Countless pundits have been deceived by Sadat. A few quotes may dispel
their naiveté. In
an interview with al-Anwar on June 22, 1975, Sadat said: "The effort of our
generation is
to return to the 1967 borders. Afterward the next generation will carry the
responsibility."
In a New York Times interview dated October 19, 1980, he boasted: "Poor
Menachem
[Begin], he has his problems ... After all, I got back ... the Sinai and the
Alma oil fields,
and what has Menachem got? A piece of paper."
A year after signing the March 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Sadat
ominously declared:
"Despite the present differences with the Arab 'rejectionist' rulers over the
Egyptian peace
initiative, the fact remains that these differences are only tactical not
strategic, temporary
not permanent."
By the way, in his Knesset speech of November 20, 1977, Sadat used the
name of God 10
times in his first ten sentences. Surely a man of God would not lie about
his desire for
peace-a word he used 95 times in his 50 minute performance!
With astonishing insight, Ibn Khaldun points out that "The Arab can obtain
authority
only by making use of some religious coloring, such as prophecy or
sainthood, or some
great religious event in general.
Patai's 1973 classic, says de Atkine, "has not aged at all. The analysis is
just as (prescient
and on-the-mark now [in post-September 11, 2001]) as on the day it was
written. One
could even make the argument that, in fact, many of the [Arab] traits
described have
become more pronounced."
Israeli politicians and diplomats are children compared to the likes of PLO-
Palestinian
leaders like Abu Ala and Abu Mazen. And sending Foreign Minister Sylvan
Shalom to
negotiate with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would be laughable if it
did not have
tragic consequences.
Despite its overwhelming military power vis-à-vis its Arab neighbors, Israel
is retreating
toward its indefensible 1949 borders. Even a Machiavellian like Ariel
Sharon has
become a poodle of the Arabs.
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December 14, 2004
Another Tack: Lost chicken-sense
by Sarah Honig, THE JERUSALEM POST
Among the junk mail that clogs my postbox daily, I found a Gush Shalom
leaflet calling
on me to fulfill my "national duty and the duty of every peace-loving
person" to help
remove all settlements. How do I pitch in? By boycotting anything that's
settlement-
made. To facilitate my task, I was supplied with a list of brands to be
shunned. In case of
unmarked agricultural produce, I must grill the retailer to make sure he's
not selling me
forbidden fruit. Moreover, I was urged to disseminate said blacklist
amongst friends and
relations, post it on neighborhood billboards and in my workplace.
Lastly, should I feel a tad discomfited, I was advised to ignore
counterarguments that I
collaborate in "depriving Jewish brethren of their livelihood." Most settlers,
I was
assured, anyway "aren't productive citizens but live off the public. This is
why they had
so much free time to participate in the violent demonstrations that
preceded the Rabin
assassination. "While most Israelis worked for a living, the settlers blocked
roads and
burned tires. Settlements constitute the chief obstacle to a historic
rapprochement
between Israel and Falastin."
I finally realized who's responsible for our collective distress and
insecurity. I forgot
about the Arab genocidal penchant for throwing us into the sea - long
before any
occupation or beyond-the-Green-Line settlements existed. I never asked
about all the
available time Gush Shalom altruists have to protest against the security
fence and IDF
roadblocks (which keep me and them alive). I was too reviled by the use
settlers make of
the right to free assembly and speech. I discovered who the parasites
feeding off my
honest toil were and was reminded of the dastardly mischief they were up
to, which
invariably led to Rabin's slaying. There's no telling what existential disaster
they could
drag us into. They make my skin crawl.
In ordinary times I'd quickly return to my senses and identify this as the
post-Zionist
fringe's self-destructive variation on entrenched anti-Semitic themes.
These, however,
aren't ordinary times. Ever since Ariel Sharon's epiphany, demonizing
settlers is no
longer an exclusive far-Left prerogative. Arik gave settler-bashing
unprecedented
respectability. Now that he no longer loves them, it's bon ton to vilify those
freeloaders
who infest our surroundings, endanger our perfect peace, dare dissent and
protest against
Arik's designs, and who may now be plotting the next assassination.
REINFORCED BY Tnuva's chairman, I can finally enjoy the coziness of the
mainstream.
It's good being in league with those who gang up on Public Enemies. It's
good being on
the same side as Arik, now King of the Enlightened Ones. It's good to enjoy
the security
of running with the majority flock, like the flock of hens that loomed large
in the
homespun childhood recollections Arik was once excessively fond of
recounting.
Growing up in Kfar Malal, young Arik astutely observed the chickens on his
family's
farm. He noted that the hens clucked harmoniously most of the time; but if
one took ill,
its mates suddenly and ferociously turned on it, pecking, scratching, and
clawing their
victim to death. It was then the future general concluded that weakness
encourages
aggression. Those who can't defend themselves are terminated viciously.
Those who don't
deter, invite their own destruction. That's how it is in nature, in the
barnyard, in Israeli
politics, and in the Mideast. When Arik grievously injured the settlers, he
must have
realized he was turning them into fair game, not only for Gush Shalom's
serial predators
and Tnuva's chairman. Confused ordinary folk prefer being among the
assaulting fowl
rather than associating with pitiful pariah pullets everyone rips into.
That's why the projected construction of prison camps for entire settler
families and of
mock-settlements for destruction drills evoke not a grassroots murmur.
Fearful folks are
glad it's not happening to them and rationalize why the others have it
coming. Arik
counts on that. Manipulating mass psychology will win him support. It's
elementary, but
not without risks. The delegitimization, blackballing, and ostracism visited
on slandered
settlers could become the sad lot of us all.
One flock's top hen is another's ravaged prey. Arik seems to have
conveniently
relinquished his once-reliable chicken-sense. By retreating and dismantling
veteran
villages, he signals the rest of the world that Israel is weakening. He
thereby turns Israel
into the enfeebled chicken of this savage region and of the heartless world.
He weakens our moral claim to any part of this land in an international
environment
where it's already increasingly trendy to dispute Israel's very right to exist.
He may be
intent on dismantling some settlements. Enemies and their overseas
sympathizers focus
on all settlements, first outside the Green Line and later within. Like it or
not, Arik, we're
all in the same chicken coop.
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December 15, 2004
WORRISOME DEVELOPMENTS REGARDING THE DISENGAGEMENT PLAN
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Dear Friends,
First of all, I want to thank you all for the many hundreds of emails which
we have
received from you during the past few weeks. Please be assured that I read
each letter
carefully. Your support and prayers are very important to us, but recently I
have
unfortunately not had time to answer you individually, as the situation here
in Israel is
developing from very serious to very dangerous.
There has been a worrisome development for those of us who are against
Sharon's
Disengagement Plan. Member of Knesset Zvi Hendel makes a shocking
statement: he
feels that Prime Minister Sharon is perfectly capable of giving an order to
open fire on
Jews who resist the security forces who come to evacuate them from their
homes.
MK Hendel let fly this bombshell on December 9. He explained:
"Sharon has carried out this entire process in a dictatorial manner... and he
won't have a
problem giving such orders. I also heard there was an article in Ha'aretz
saying that if 10-
20 Jews will be killed [during the disengagement], it will be a worthwhile
price to pay
and I'm not convinced that they didn't hear this in one way or another from
the Prime
Minister himself.
"It is typical of his character; this whole process was done for his personal
and family
benefit, in order to make sure that the police investigation against him
would not lead to
an indictment after all, who would want to touch him when he's in the
middle of such
dramatic and important diplomatic moves? From the moment he made the
decision to go
in this direction, everything became kosher to him. No one can stop him; if
the settlers
dare to bother him if thousands of them and their friends won't want to
get on the trucks,
or won't want to load their dead onto the trucks, then he'll be capable of
giving this order.
I think that everyone who knows him knows that he is capable of giving
such an order..."
Hendel explained why he went public with this observation on the day
when the Likud
voted whether to have a coalition with Labor: "My purpose was that the
Likud members
should think once again before they place their ballot. They know Sharon,
so let them
think carefully to themselves, when they are alone with themselves: isn't it
likely that this
is probable? Let them realize what's on the table here - not just a political
game within the
Likud, but rather, one of the most dictatorial, ruthless processes in the
history of the
State. They should know that G-d has given them the opportunity to make
the decision.
I'm truly not worried; if they don't make the right decision, 'salvation will
come from
other quarters' - but they have the option of stopping this now. ... Many
MKs, from both
left and right, agreed with me that Sharon is definitely capable of this."
How is it possible that the Likud Knesset Members caved in to Sharon?
The majority of
the Likud Knesset Members voted to allow Sharon to shore up his tottering
government
by allowing the Labor Party to join the coalition, even though Sharon has
promised
Shimon Peres, the main architect of the disastrous Oslo Accords, that he
become vice
premiere with virtually unlimited powers.
I want to give a short summary of the sorry history of the Likud Party's
betrayal of their
platform, when they approved Ariel Sharon's Disengagement Plan.
Ariel Sharon did fulfill campaign promises - those of his Labor opponent
Amram Mitzna,
who had promised, if elected, that he would evacuate every last Jew from
Gaza. Because
of this very platform Amram Mitzna was roundly defeated. Thus, Sharon
literally stole
our votes. He won by a landslide as head of the Likud Party, opposing
Labor Party
candidate Amram Mitzna. The Likud Party platform clearly states: "No to a
Palestinian
state; and no abandonment of any Jewish community."
Sharon's Disengagement Plan is a betrayal of both his Likud Party and of
the electorate at
large. After this betrayal, the membership of the Likud Party voted against
Sharon's
Disengagement Plan, in a referendum, with an approximately 20% majority.
Likewise,
the Likud Central committee voted the same way with a similar majority.
Unfazed, Sharon continued to ignore the Likud membership, the Likud
Central
Committee, and almost half of the Likud Knesset Members.
So how was Dictator Sharon able to convince the majority of the Likud
faction to go
against the Likud Platform, and to vote for a Plan which the Likud
Membership in a
referendum had voted against with a hefty 20% majority?
An article in the Jerusalem Post of December 10, 2004 entitled "Santa Arik
is coming to
town" gives us an interesting explanation.
"In Israel's version of Santa Claus, Santa Sharon ... has made it clear that
promotion will
only be given to politicians who are nice and not naughty.
"Whoever works more and brings his supporters in the Central Committee
will be
promoted and rewarded accordingly," sources close to Sharon said ahead
of Thursday's
decisive Likud vote on widening the coalition. Likud MK's took the
message to heart.
Suddenly, Likud MKs Gila Gamliel and Yehiel Hazan, who want to be
deputy ministers,
have left the so-called Likud rebels and announced their support for the
formation of a
National Unity Government. One of the major newspapers even ran a lead
headline
suggesting that Ministers who do not support unity could lose their jobs.
"A Sharon associate said, 'Whoever votes against us will find a lump of
coal in their
stocking and no present.'"
* * *
What is the cause of this sad and undemocratic situation? Sharon's
machinations are
made possible by Israel's electoral system, where the Prime Minister and
the Party are all
powerful. The Party selects the candidate for Prime Minister. The Party
also selects the
candidates for the Knesset and determines their placement on the list. The
Prime
Minister, as Sharon has done, is able to give himself dictatorial powers,
with virtually no
checks and balances. (The U.S. Senate, for instance, has to approve by a
2/3 majority
any treaty with a foreign entity.) The Prime Minister is able to reward his
supporters
with Ministerial and Deputy-Ministerial jobs, and is able to fire them at will
when they
dare to disagree with him.
What we desperately need in Israel is a system like the American one,
where the
Congressman is directly responsible to the people in his district, and
therefore has to
listen to the voice of his constituents. This is in dire contrast to the Israeli
system, where
the Party functionaries hold the reins.
We have a dangerous situation, where jails are now being built to
accommodate the Gush
Katif and Samaria settlers, who are to be uprooted and evacuated. Thus,
the Knesset is
able to pass laws, which Natan Sharansky calls worse than Bolshevik, to
punish the
"settlers" who oppose, even verbally, being dragged out of their homes.
The punishment
is three years for a gathering of three people (even if one of them is a
child), who express
opposition, and five years for anyone who is caught with a "weapon", even
if the weapon
is a salad knife. And according to Knesset Member Zvi Hendel, someone
who opposes
Sharon's Plan may even be fired upon.
This pretends to be democracy? Cry my beloved country.
Another worrisome development. Are some good friends in the U.S. media
abandoning
Israel?
I am quoting from an article by columnist Caroline B. Glick in the December
10
Jerusalem Post:
"Pro-Israel writers and policy makers in the United States like Charles
Krauthammer,
William Safire and Abraham Sofaer have publicly lauded Sharon for his
'strategic
wisdom' and have castigated as extremists those who insist that the
planned withdrawal
will be devastating to Israel's national security.
"Sofaer allows that 'the Palestinians are far from ready to negotiate.' The
advantage of
Sharon's plan therefore, is that it gets Israel out of an untenable 'position'
in Gaza.
Sofaer compares the withdrawal from Gaza to Israel's May 2000 withdrawal
from
Lebanon, 'Today the Lebanese-Israeli border is more secure than during
occupation.'
"This is a sort of sophistry that friends of Israel like Sofaer would almost
certainly never
have entertained before Sharon adopted the Plan. The fact of the matter is
that today
Hizbullah forces in South Lebanon constitute a strategic threat to Israel.
Just this week
the army reported that Hizbullah is developing unconventional weapons.
"Last week the IDF deployed a battery of patriot missiles to Haifa to prevent
Hizbullah
drones which can be armed with chemical and biological weapons, from
infiltrating Israel
- again.
"Hizbullah's transformation from a tactical challenge to a strategic threat
has advanced
unfettered over the past four years because the IDF left Lebanon and
stopped fighting
Hizbullah. The fact that since the withdrawal of IDF forces from Lebanon
no soldiers
have been killed in Lebanon is a tautology, not proof that the move was
wise. Aside
from that, the IDF also reported this week that the majority of Palestinian
terror cells in
Judea and Samaria that executed successful terror attacks in 2004, has
been affiliated
with Hizbullah.
"AND SO WE DISENGAGED FROM THEM IN LEBANON ONLY TO FIGHT
THEM IN ISRAEL. [Emphasis is mine. --R. M.]"
* * *
National Security Advisor General (res.) Giora Eiland said the following:
"Hizbullah
represents the Iranian trend. The threat is generally underrated in Israel.
Hizbullah is a
threat all along the border, and they are involved in Palestinian terrorism -
even more so
than other Palestinian organizations. Their very many rockets along the
border are not
only a terror threat but a military threat."
Have the U.S. pro-Israel writers and policy makers like Charles
Krauthammer, William
Safire and Abraham Sofaer fallen for the Sharon government's skillful
spin? Is uprooting
8,000 Jews from their homes "strategic wisdom"? Is abandoning the Gush
Katif area to
Arab terrorists and bringing the Kassam rockets now raining on the Jewish
communities
in Gaza to Sderot and Ashkelon "strategic wisdom"? Is it "strategic
wisdom" to so
divide the Jewish People, that even a civil war is no longer unthinkable?
Please, dear friends in the United States, don't buy Ariel Sharon's skillful
spin! We know
that you are a powerful voice in shaping public opinion in the United
States. It is your
responsibility to investigate the true situation in Israel, rather than to laud
Sharon's
"strategic wisdom."
Finally, I am going to quote the final paragraph of Caroline Glick's column:
"It is hard to
dispute the strategic wisdom of a man with Sharon's military credentials.
But can we not
at least entertain the notion that Sharon at 76, embroiled in criminal
investigations, may
be past his prime? ... But we owe it to ourselves to coldly analyze the
strategic options
with which we are faced, rather than simply saying that, since Sharon has
said his piece,
all that is left for us to do is quietly follow along."
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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December 20, 2004
Long Live Pinchas Wallerstein!
WOMEN IN GREEN applauds and supports the stand of Pinchas
Wallerstein! His
resistance to the transfer of Jews is the number one topic of discussion on
the Israeli
media.
The fact is, the time has come to fight the illegitimate government that
wishes to
implement the treacherous and illegal plan of Sharon. We dare not uproot
Jews from
their homes in the Promised Land. We urge all Jews to take whatever non
violent of civil
disobedience, to bring down the onerous government of Sharon.
That is what the masses did in the Ukraine, when they succeeded in ending
its corrupt
government. We in Israel must do the same. The masses must take to the
streets and
stop the usual life of this country. We must finally bring down the dictator
Sharon and
the Oslo criminals who surround him. The biggest criminal of them all is
Shimon Peres,
who heads the list of those who support Sharon's Disengagement Plan.
Pinchas Wallerstein must be allowed to continue to spread his message. In
addition,
Women in Green call upon everyone to urge the security forces not to obey
the
illegitimate order to transfer Jews from their homes. It is sacrilegious to
destroy their
synagogues! The holy graves of their loved ones must not be disturbed!
No soldier or policeman should lend a hand to help transfer Jews from
their Homeland.
No Jew, and certainly not the Jewish State of Israel, has the right to turn
against what is
clearly Promised by the G-d of Israel in our Bible. How much more so is it
forbidden to
give any part of our Holy Land to the murderous Arab enemy.
Send your words of encouragement to Pinchas Wallerstein at these fax
numbers:
Yesha Council 02-5814072 (from abroad - 972-2-581-4072)
Binyamin Council 02-9977263 (from abroad - 972-2-997-7263)
His email address is: pinchas@binyamin.org.il
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
December 21, 2004
Why is America upping the hundreds of million$ it already gives the
'Palestinians'?
Arafat's successor is hell-bent on destroying Israel. by Daniel Pipes
Yasser Arafat died last month. This month, his death is prompting plans for
a foreign aid
bounty of $500 million to $1 billion a year for the Palestinians. That's the
scoop Steven
R. Weisman published in the New York Times on Dec. 17. He revealed that
Western,
Arab, and other governments plan to add a 50 to 100 percent bonus to the
$1 billion a
year they already direct to 3.5 million Palestinians in the territories,
contingent upon a
crackdown on terrorist groups and the holding of credible elections in
January 2005.
(Asked about Weisman's report, White House spokesman Scott McClellan
neither
confirmed nor denied it. But President George W. Bush did subsequently
make some
hugely ambitious statements about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "I am
convinced that,
during this term, I will manage to bring peace" and "Next year is very
important, as it
will bring peace.")
Aid-wise, residents of the West Bank and Gaza have hardly been neglected
until now.
They receive about $300 per person, making them, per capita, the world's
greatest
beneficiaries of foreign aid. Strangely, their efforts to destroy Israel have
not inspired
efforts to crush this hideous ambition but rather to subsidize it. Money
being fungible,
foreign aid effectively funds the Palestinians' bellicose propaganda
machine, their
arsenal, their army, and their suicide bombers.
This, however, does not faze international aid types. Nigel Roberts, the
World Bank's
director for the West Bank and Gaza, blows off past failures. Addressing
himself to
donors, he says, "Maybe your $1 billion a year hasn't produced much, but
we think there's
a case for doing even more in the next three or four years."
Roberts is saying, in effect: Yes, your money enabled Arafat's corruption,
jihad ideology,
and suicide factories, but those are yesterday's problems; now, let's hope
the new
leadership uses donations for better purposes. Please lavish more funds
on it to enhance
its prestige and power, then hope for the best.
This la-la-land thinking ignores two wee problems. One concerns the
Palestinians'
widespread intent to destroy Israel, as shown by the outpouring of grief for
arch-terrorist
Arafat at his funeral, the consistent results of opinion research, and the
steady supply of
would-be jihadists. The Palestinians' discovery of their inner moderation, to
put it mildly,
has yet to commence.
The other problem is blaming the past decade's violence and tyranny
exclusively on
Arafat, and erroneously assuming that, now freed of him, the Palestinians
are eager to
reform. Mahmoud Abbas, the new leader, has indeed called for ending
terrorism against
Israel, but he did so for transparently tactical reasons (it is the wrong thing
to do now),
not for strategic reasons (it is permanently to be given up), much less for
moral ones (it is
inherently evil).
Abbas is not a moderate but a pragmatist. Unlike Arafat, consumed by his
biography and
his demons, Abbas offers a more reasonable figure, one who can more
rationally pursue
Arafat's goal of destroying Israel. In this spirit, he has quickly apologized to
the Kuwaitis
and made up with the Syrians; compared to this, reaching out to the
Americans is easy.
But, no less than his mentor Arafat, Abbas remains intent on eliminating
Israel. This is
evident, for example, from his recent comments insisting that millions of
Palestinian
"refugees" be permitted to enter Israel so as to overwhelm it
demographically; or from his
keeping the virulent content of the Palestinian Authority's media in place.
https://www.kerenyehoshuavyisroel.com/keren/jwr/donate.cfmTo give
additional money
to the Palestinians now, ahead of their undergoing a change of heart and
accepting the
permanent existence of the Jewish state of Israel, is a terrible mistake, one
that numbingly
replicates the errors of the 1990s' Oslo diplomacy. Prematurely rewarding
the
Palestinians will again delay the timetable of conciliation.
As I have argued for years, money, arms, diplomacy, and recognition for
the Palestinians
should follow on their having accepted Israel. One sign that this will have
happened:
when Jews living in Hebron (on the West Bank) need no more security than
Arabs living
in Nazareth (within Israel). Until that day of harmony - which I predict Until
that day of
harmony - which I predict is about thirty years off - the outside world
should focus not on
showering money or other benefits on the Palestinians, but on pushing
them relentlessly
to accept Israel's existence. .
Until that day of harmony - which I predict is about thirty years off - the
outside world
should focus not on showering money or other benefits on the
Palestinians, but on
pushing them relentlessly to accept Israel's existence.
( Women In Green are publishing this article despite the fact that we
disagree with Mr.
Pipes on many issues. Daniel Pipes is quite unrealistic when he supports
the Road Map,
and an eventual two-state solution wherein Israel supposedly will live
alongside of the
Arabs in peace. \\It is clearly against the word of the G-d of Israel in the
Bible. However,
most Arabs, who are mainly Muslims, rejoice in the terrorist activity, and
sympathize and
are supportive of much of this immoral,inhumane and terrorist conduct.
Moreover, we disagree with Mr. Pipes that there is such a thing as a
"moderate" Islamite.
While they do exist, they play an insignificant role in the total picture, and
have no real
influence within the Arab world, and for the most part are silent witnesses
to Moslem
brutality.
Nevertheless, Mr. Pipes may be wrong on some points but he definitely
should be heard
on several issues, and this is one of them. )
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December 23, 2004
GOODBYE CHRISTMAS?
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Dear Friends,
I am intent on keeping abreast with what is happening in America. I find
the best way to
do this is to tune in to Fox TV News.
To my utter amazement, much time has been spent during the last few
weeks on the
controversy of whether public Christmas celebration should be allowed to
have religious
content. Or whether a Christmas tree should be allowed in a public square,
unless it is
called a Holiday tree! Or whether public schools should be allowed to
feature Christmas
carols! The legal system, as well, is apparently used in an attempt to
accomplish these
goals.
What has happened to us Americans? I am writing this as an Orthodox
Jewish American
now living in the Holy Land. When our family lived in New York, I never felt
threatened
by my children admiring the beautiful Christmas displays in the Fifth
Avenue department
store windows. Nor did I feel reluctant to let them look at the giant
Christmas tree at
Rockefeller Center. Our children had a religious Jewish upbringing and
they looked
forward with great anticipation to their own holiday, Chanukah. Chanukah
commemorates the miracle of how, with the help of the Almighty, the "few
defeated the
many". The many, of course, were not only the army of the Syrian-Greek
King
Antiochus, but the Hellenist Jews who wanted to "disengage" from the
Jewish religion
and thereby be accepted by the rest of the world.
History unfortunately replays itself in interesting and tragic ways.
Today we unfortunately have Jews both abroad, and in the Holy Land itself,
who want to
"disengage" from the Jewish religion, from their fellow Jews, and from the
Promise of
the
G-d of Israel that the Holy Land be their everlasting inheritance.
It is vitally important that we all strive to learn more about our own religion,
rather than
preventing other people from publicly enjoying theirs.
The well-known American columnist, Charles Krauthammer, wrote a
wonderful article
last week, which I would like to share with you in its entirety:
GOODBYE CHRISTMAS?
Charles Krauthammer
December 17, 2004
"Holiday celebrations where Christmas music is being sung make people
feel different,
and because it is such a majority, it makes the minority feel
uncomfortable."
-- Mark Brownstein, parent, Maplewood, N.J., supporting the school board's
banning of
religious music from holiday concerts.
"You want my advice? Go back to Bulgaria."
-- Humphrey Bogart, in "Casablanca."
WASHINGTON -- It is Christmas time, and what would Christmas be without
the usual
platoon of annoying pettifoggers rising annually to strip Christmas of any
Christian
content. With some success:
School districts in New Jersey and Florida ban Christmas carols. The
mayor of
Somerville, Mass., apologizes for "mistakenly" referring to the town's
"holiday party" as
a "Christmas party." The Broward and Fashion malls in South Florida put
up a Hanukkah
menorah but no nativity scene. The manager of one of the malls explains:
Hanukkah
commemorates a battle and not a religious event, although he hastens to
add "I really
don't know a lot about it." He does not. Hanukkah commemorates a
miracle, and there is
no event more "religious" than a miracle.
The attempts to de-Christianize Christmas are as absurd as they are
relentless. The United
States today is the most tolerant and diverse society in history. It
celebrates all faiths with
an open heart and open-mindedness that, compared to even the most
advanced countries
in Europe, are unique.
Yet more than 80 percent of Americans are Christian and probably 95
percent of
Americans celebrate Christmas. Christmas Day is an official federal
holiday, the only day
of the entire year when, for example, the Smithsonian museums are closed.
Are we to
pretend that Christmas is nothing but an orgy of commerce in celebration
of ... what? The
winter solstice?
I personally like Christmas because, as a day that for me is otherwise
ordinary, I get to do
nice things, such as covering for as many gentile colleagues as I could
when I was a
doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital. I will admit that my generosity
had its
rewards: I collected enough chits on Christmas Day to get reciprocal
coverage not just for
Yom Kippur, but for both days of Rosh Hashana and my other major
holiday, Opening
Day at Fenway.
Mind you, I've got nothing against Hanukkah, although I am constantly
amused -- and
gratified -- by how American culture has gone out of its way to inflate the
importance of
Hanukkah, easily the least important of Judaism's seven holidays, into a
giant event
replete with cards, presents and public commemorations as a creative way
to give Jews
their Christmas equivalent.
Some Americans get angry at parents who want to ban carols because they
tremble that
their kids might feel "different" and "uncomfortable" should they, God
forbid, hear
Christian music sung at their school. I feel pity. What kind of fragile
religious identity
have they bequeathed their children that it should be threatened by
exposure to carols?
I'm struck by the fact that you almost never find Orthodox Jews
complaining about a
Christmas creche in the public square. That is because their children,
steeped in the
richness of their own religious tradition, know who they are and are not
threatened by
Christians celebrating their religion in public. They are enlarged by it.
It is the more deracinated members of religious minorities, brought up
largely ignorant of
their own traditions, whose religious identity is so tenuous that they feel
the need to be
constantly on guard against displays of other religions -- and who think the
solution to
their predicament is to prevent the other guy from displaying his religion,
rather than
learning a bit about their own.
To insist that the overwhelming majority of this country stifle its religious
impulses in
public so that minorities can feel "comfortable" not only understandably
enrages the
majority, but commits two sins. The first is profound ungenerosity toward a
majority of
fellow citizens who have shown such generosity of spirit toward minority
religions.
The second is the sin of incomprehension -- a failure to appreciate the
uniqueness of the
communal American religious experience. Unlike, for example, the
famously tolerant
Ottoman Empire or the generally tolerant Europe of today, America does
not merely
allow minority religions to exist at its sufferance. It celebrates and
welcomes and honors
them.
America transcended the idea of mere toleration in 1790 in Washington's
letter to the
Newport synagogue, one of the lesser known glories of the Founding: "It is
now no more
that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of
people, that
another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights."
More than two centuries later, it is time that members of religious (and anti-
religious)
minorities, as full citizens of this miraculous republic, transcend something
too: petty
defensiveness.
Merry Christmas. To all.
* * *
I think this is a wonderful article, especially since I am in complete
agreement with Mr.
Krauthammer!
It is important that we all remember that America's Founding Fathers
wanted us to have
Freedom of Religion, not Freedom from Religion.
I WISH ALL MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS A JOYOUS CHRISTMAS!
With Blessings and Love for Israel,
Ruth Matar
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December 24, 2004
SHARON MERCILESSLY ABANDONS THE JEWS OF GUSH KATIF
Over the past 3 years, 5000 katyshas rockets have been fired by Arab
terrorists at the
Jewish Communities of Gush Katif. Over the past few days, a non-stop
flow of katysha
rockets and missiles have been falling like rain on the communities in
Gush Katif. Only
by miracle, entire Jewish families have not yet been murdered in their
homes.
Despite thess above facts, the Government continues to tie the hands of
the Army, and
does not send our soldiers to eliminate, once and for all, all Arab terrorists
and their
helpers.
One cannot explain this in any other way then that there is a deliberate
policy by Sharon
to encourage abandonment by the Jews of Gush Katif of their respective
communities.
By causing despair amongst those Jews by reason of such rockets, and
the army doing
nothing about it, we have a situation of Arab killing Jews with the approval
of the Sharon
Government!
To our shock and horror, Sharon is callously encouraging the firing of
these rockets. He
is thereby encouraging Arab terrorism. What he doesn't want to realize, is
that the Arabs
will learn from this, that terrorism pays and is rewarded even by a Jewish
Government.
It is time for Sharon to stand trial for the crime of not protecting Israel's
residents as any
Prime Minister is required to do.
We urge all residents throughout Israel to go to the nearest police station
in whatever city
they are located to file a complaint against Prime Minister Sharon for
abandoning Jews
living in the Promised Land to Arab terror.
We must not remain silent when our fellow Jews are under attack by Arab
terror. It is a
disgraceful and callous government that is allowing these Arab attacks
without any
response whatsoever. These actions of Sharon are unpardonable, and he
should be
indicted, before the likelihood that a Jew is murdered or is severely
injured. We can no
longer stay silent in the face of what is happening to our fellow Jews.
GO TO YOUR LOCAL POLICE STATION, AS WE IN JERUSALEM WILL DO
ON
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2004 AT NOON EN MASSE. THE MORE POLICE
COMPLAINTS THE BETTER !
Ruth and Nadia Matar
*******************************************************
December 24, 2004
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
WOMEN IN GREEN are engaged in a campaign to have soldiers and
reservists sign a
Petition which declares: We will not participate in the uprooting of Jews
from their
homes. Nor will we destroy their schools and synagogues, nor will we
disinter the graves
of their loved ones. Women in Green are joining with Protective Shield,
Gamla Shall
Not Fall Again, and other extra-parliamentary groups, and as a result we
are getting more
and more Media attention.
The Chief of Staff claims he is worried about the thousands of soldiers and
reservists who
have already signed the Petition. By signing, they are saying that they will
not lend a
hand to this immoral Plan.
By these soldiers adding their names to this Petition, they are proclaiming
that they will
not defy the word of the G-d of Israel, He promised the Jewish People in
our Bible that
this Land belongs to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Every week we gather many hundreds of signatures. Our purpose is to
advise Prime
Minister Sharon of the extent of the opposition to his Disengagement Plan.
Judea, Samaria, and Gaza are part and parcel of the Promised Land. No
one has the right,
as Ben Gurion recognized in a speech to the Zionist Congress many years
ago, to give up
any portion of this Promised Land to the hostile Arab enemy or to anyone
else.
PLEASE COME THIS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2004 AT 9:30 A.M TO THE
CENTRAL BUS STATION IN JERUSALEM. Help us to gather more and
more
signatures to the Petition.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
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December 29, 2004
Do a De Gaulle Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, December 27,2004
The Yesha Council's decision to oppose disengagement via civil
disobedience has elicited
predictable responses. Alongside demands that council members be
indicted, opinion
leaders have charged, inter alia, that civil disobedience is only justified
under a non-
democratic regime, that it will encourage violence, and that it will split the
nation and
destroy the country. Some of the charges, such as the claim that civil
disobedience is
unjustified in a democracy, simply betray the speakers' ignorance. In fact,
the seminal
work on this subject – Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience – was
written precisely
to justify civil disobedience in a democracy.
To Thoreau, civil disobedience was not a way to protest undemocratic
decisions, but a
way to protest democratic decisions that the protester considers morally
wrong (in his
case, the American government's declaration of war against Mexico). Many
settlers
believe that the forcible evacuation of settlements is morally wrong, and
the fact that
most Israelis disagree does not negate their right to follow their own
consciences.
The fear that civil disobedience will lead to violence is more serious, as
violent
lawbreaking is clearly an easier step from nonviolent lawbreaking than
from complete
obedience to the law. Yet history shows that violence is most likely to erupt
when a
passionately committed minority believes that it has no alternative. Civil
disobedience
provides an alternative: It enables the minority to try to influence events
nonviolently.
Thus on balance, civil disobedience is more likely to channel energies
away from
violence than to provoke it.
The one really serious charge is that mass civil disobedience could tear the
nation apart.
That danger is never to be taken lightly. Yet it seems particularly
inapplicable in this
case, because Yesha's campaign is not directed solely against
disengagement: It also
seeks to force the government "to allow the nation decide on such a
fundamental issue,
whether through elections or through a referendum." And that is a goal
that every Israeli
who cares about this country should support – because it is the only way
to ensure that
the nation is not torn apart.
What the council – unlike most of our so-called democrats – understands is
that on an
issue so divisive, legality is not enough: You need the broader legitimacy
that comes
from a clear public mandate. That is precisely why Charles De Gaulle, when
he decided
to abandon Algeria after having been elected on a platform of Algerie
francaise, said that
he would do so only if he won a public referendum – and with "a massive
majority."
He did not need a referendum to get the pullout through the French
legislature. But he
understood that withdrawal opponents would accept the move more readily
if they
understood that it was truly the public's will rather than his personal whim.
ISRAELI
POLITICIANS, however, have always chosen the opposite approach.
Yitzhak Rabin, for
instance, was elected in 1992 after promising unequivocally not to
negotiate with the
PLO. Yet a year later, he signed an agreement with the PLO – without
seeking a new
public mandate. And that turned a merely controversial policy into a bitterly
divisive one.
I will never forget a centrist colleague, who supports "land for peace,"
telling me why she
identified with the then prevalent cries of "Rabin is a traitor." She
explained: "I voted for
Rabin because I believed his promises – and I feel betrayed." That sense of
betrayal is
precisely what made Oslo so devastating. Yet Rabin could have avoided it
by the simple
expedient of going back to the people and seeking a clear mandate for his
new policy.
The feeling of betrayal reached a peak in 1995, when Rabin obtained a 61-
59 Knesset
majority for the Oslo-2 Accord by openly bribing two MKs from a right-wing
party to
switch sides in exchange for a ministry and a deputy ministry, and then
retroactively
amending the law that made this illegal. After that, Rabin not only lacked a
clear public
mandate, he did not even have a Knesset mandate that any honest person
could consider
legitimate. And that made Rabin's assassination a few weeks later almost
inevitable: If
the prime minister is willing to use any means to achieve his ends, some
maniac will
inevitably feel justified in doing the same.
NOW, ARIEL SHARON has adopted the same disastrous approach to
disengagement.
He campaigned against unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, but after being
elected, he made
unilateral withdrawal his key policy initiative, without seeking a new public
mandate.He
did seek approval from his party, via a members' referendum, but when he
lost by a 60-40
majority, he immediately reneged on his promise to honor the results.Thus
pullout
opponents are not merely unhappy over the disengagement; they feel
cheated and
betrayed – and that is a recipe for disaster. So when Yossi Klein Halevi
accused the
Yesha Council in these pages on Friday of "inadvertently encouraging"
another
assassination, he had the matter backward: It is the lack of a clear public
mandate for
disengagement, and opponents' consequent feelings of betrayal, that
makes another
assassination so likely.
And the best hope of averting this scenario is a successful campaign to
force Sharon to
seek such a mandate. As for Larry Derfner's argument on Thursday that no
prime
minister has ever sought public approval for anything he had the power to
force through
the Knesset – that is not a justification; it is precisely what is wrong with
this country.
Disengagement supporters, like Oslo supporters before them, keep
insisting that "the
polls" show that the public is behind them. If so, why are they so afraid of
putting it to the
test? Granted, a referendum or elections might delay the pullout. But a few
months' delay
is a small price to pay for enabling it to occur without tearing the nation
apart.
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December 29, 2004
For A Breath of Truth and Courage by Professor Paul Eidelberg
The most significant accomplishment of the modern State of Israelis its
proliferation pf
Yeshivas, of Torah learning. Yet this accomplishment was never
intended by the
secular Zionists who founded the State. The leading Zionists, above all
David Ben
Gurion. were self-professed Marxists, hence atheists. True, Ben Gurion
admitted that
were it not for the Torah, the Jewish People, dispersed among the nations,
would have
become extinct as the Mesopatanians. Nevertheless, he believed that the
founding of the
State, and the ingathering of the Jews, rendered the Torah obsolete.
Indeed,
secular Zionists feared that popular adherence to the Torah would obstruct
the
development of a modern socialist amd egalitarian society. which was the
goal of Ben
Gurion's Mapai Party, now called Labor. What is most ironic about this
one-time Zionist
party is that its egalitarian ideology complicated the task of forming a
secular democratic
state. Egalitarianism required Zionists to confer citizenship on the large
number of Arabs
living within the armistice lines established after the 1048-49 War of
Independence.
Desperately required was a large Jewish majority in the Land of Israel.
Needed was a
great influx of Jews from Africa and Asia. But this posed a dilemma for
secular Zionists.
The vast majority of the Jews from Africa and Asia were religious. Their
potential voting
power was an obvious threat to Labor's political predominance. Labor
needed these
Jews to counterbalance the Arab population and, at the same time, endow
the new State
of Israel with "legitimacy" as a "Jewish" State Bit the immigration of
700,000 religious
Jews from Africa and Asia in the first three years of the State's existence
would lead, in
the normal course of events,to Labor's political demise.
If Labor (or the "Left") was not to commit political suicide and renounce the
goal of
creating a thoroughly egalitarian or secular democratic state, they would
have to
secularize the Sephardi and Oriental Jews. This they did to no small extent,
and in
unconscionable ways. Immigrant parents who sent their children to
religious schools
were denied employment until they transferred their children to secular
schools.
Thousands of Yeminite children were herded into secular kibbutizim and
other anti-
relgioious institutions. At the same time, immigrant transit camps became
schools for
left-wing and anti-religious propaganda, designed to turn youth away from
their parents.
Thus by means of coercion, segregation, and indoctrination, the Left
undermined the
structure and intense loyalties of countless impoverished Sephardi and
Oriental Jewish
families on the one hand, and their dedication to Torah values on the
other. The
consequences was a spiritual holocaust. To this day the vast majority of
Jews
languishing in Israeli prisons are Sephardi and Oriental Jews.
Meanwhile, the public schools, whose curriculum was designed by
secularists, graduated
hundreds of thousands of culturally deprived Jews. Jewish youth were
transformed into
"Israelis." Bereft of Judaims, these shallow products of secular Zionism
have no
religious attachment to the Land of Israel. Indeed, insofar as they regard
themselves as
Israelis and not Jews , one might say - certainly an Arab who believes in
Allah could say
- they have no right to this land. They were "robbers."
The mere fact that Gad Yacobi of the Labor Party, Israel's erstwhile UN
Ambassador,
proclaimed to a Harvard University audience "there is no such thing as
"Jewish Land"
indicates that the Party now headed by octogenarian Shimon Peres, does
indeed consist of
hijackers .How much easier it was for such Jews, devoid of Judaism, to
offer the
heartland of the Jewish People to a murderous villain like Yasser Arafat.
And so what did they accomplish?. They boast, not without merit, of
having made the
deserts bloom, and have established a powerful defense force along with
the country's
scientific-technological infrastructure. But against these
accomplishments. It must be
reiterated, they undermined the religiosity of countless Jews . They
established an
educational system that transformed Jews into spiritually empty Israelis.
Now, such is
their moral and intellectual bankruptcy, they are endangering Israel's very
existence, with
the help of their surrogate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose government
they have
joined and who is a con man.
Recall that the State created by these former Zionists, was intended to
provide for the
long-sought security of the Jewish People. But now, what do we see?
Squeezed into a
narrow strip of land are five million Jews threatened with annihilation. The
same Zionist
State was intended to restore the honor of the Jewish People. Never in
history have the
Jewish People been so humiliated and disgraced as they have under the
present Sharon
government , whose ministers excel only in moral cowardice.
When all is said and done about this era, this bitter parallel needs to be
remembered. On
the one hand thanks to the Bolsheviks, who ruled the Soviet Union, a
million Jews left
Russia and settled in the Land of Israel. On the other hand, thanks to the
Bolsheviks who
have ruled Israel, a million Jews have left this country and are again
dispersed among the
nations! Let us also bear in mind that the Labor Party, which has
controlled Israel's
economy and media, as well as the country's educational and cultural
institutions, never
won more than 51 seats in the 120 seat Knesset. Hence, they never
represented a
majority of the Jewish People. in Israel.. What a pathetic commentary on
Israel's so-
called right wign and religious parties! Why, when most Jews in Israel are
not leftists,
has there not been a restoration of Jewish national pride? Why has there
not been
prevented the many thousands of Jewish casualties suffered in recent
years?
Perhaps it is because these Parties have failed to proclaim on every public
forum, that
Israel's only justification is to be a Jewish State, not a secular state. It
must be a state
ruled solely by Jews, who, whether they be religious or not, are proud of
their Jewish
Heritage. There can be no other justification for the State of Israel.
O for a breath of truth and courage! O to clear the air of all the lies and
cowardice that
have produced Israel's decrepit post-Zionist state. Needed are men and
women of truth
and courage who will stand up and proclaim that their goal is nothing less
than the
formation of a New Israel, one whose way of life, and system of
government are rooted
in the Torah.
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December 30, 2004
JEWS AND CHRISTIANS, RALLY AROUND THE BIBLE!
Ariel Sharon is Ready to Attack G-d's Covenant with the Jewish People
LETTER FROM RUTH MATAR (WOMEN IN GREEN) JERUSALEM
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Dear Friends,
Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan aims to make the Biblical lands of Gaza
(Gush Katif) and
Northern Samaria "Judenrein". In fact, on June 2 of this year, Prime
Minister Sharon was
quoted as saying "that there will be no Jews in Gaza or Northern Shomron
by the end of
2005". Shortly thereafter I heard him say on Israel radio: "the
Disengagement Plan is the
most important item on our agenda, AND WITH G-D'S HELP WE SHALL
SUCCEED".
What incredible chutzpa! Sharon well knows that the Almighty promised
his Holy Land
to the Jewish People and that this Promise certainly includes Judea,
Samaria and Gaza.
His "Disengagement" Plan is directly against the Word of G-d.
Let us again make this clear once and for all! Gaza is Jewish Land
promised by Hashem
in the Bible as an everlasting inheritance to the Jewish People. Jews have
lived in Gaza
ever since they crossed into the Promised Land in the great Exodus from
Egypt,
approximately 3,270 years ago. It was, in fact, apportioned to the Tribe of
Judah (Joshua
15:47 and Judges 1:18) as part of its eternal patrimony. (See the map of
TERRITORIES
OF THE TWELVE TRIBES, Stone Edition of the Tanach, page 2,045
appendix D, map
2)
The battle against Sharon's Disengagement Plan (the plan to throw out
thousands of Jews
from their homes in Biblical Gaza and Samaria) is becoming very intense.
The slogan
"With Love We Will Be Victorious" and the fact that 200,000 Jews were able
to form a
human chain from Gush Katif to the Western Wall, did not influence the
Sharon
government in any form or fashion. Sharon continued, with his bulldozer
behavior, to
advance his plan by trying to push through the Knesset draconian
measures, such as:
* Three years of imprisonment of persons who act together to oppose
disengagement,
even if one of them is a minor.
* Five years of imprisonment if such a meeting included a person with a
weapon, even
just a pen knife or a nail scissor.
* The building of additional prisons capable of holding thousands of
objectors to the
Disengagement Plan.
* Special training camps to train police, soldiers and other forces to deal
with Jews who
in any way resist expulsion.
* A request from the Finance Ministry for a large allocation of funds, to buy
special
protective equipment for the forces which take part in this evacuation of
Jews. How
about protective equipment for those about to be forcibly dragged out of
their homes?
* If there is any resistance whatsoever to being forcibly evicted from one's
home, such
persons lose any chance for compensation for their house and/or farm,
and, in addition,
forfeit the ownership of their personal possessions (furniture, appliances,
clothes etc.)
The major slogan of the Gush Katif residents "With Love We Will Be
Victorious" has
proven to be ineffective against the hatred of the Sharon Government, the
Left, and the
leftist controlled media. This is what finally prompted Pinchas Wallerstein,
one of the
leaders of the Yesha Council (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) to write an open
letter calling for
massive civil disobedience against the prospect of ethnic cleansing of
Jews from Gaza
and Samaria.
In addition, some residents of Gush Katif, mainly holocaust survivors,
started a campaign
to wear on their clothing an orange Star of David in order to shock people
into realizing
that there is a valid comparison between the Germans expelling Jews from
their homes,
and Sharon's proposed "Disengagement" Plan.
Immediately there was a tremendous and skillfully organized outcry against
this
campaign from the leftist media, claiming that the settlers were
besmirching the memory
of the Holocaust victims, and trying to compare the Sharon government to
the Nazis.
Let me state right here that I will never compare my fellow Jews to the
Nazis. The Arab
enemies are today's Nazis! Those who are trying to push the
"Disengagement" Plan
down the throats of the Israeli People, are unwittingly helping this very
enemy.
Both Abu Mazen and Marwan Barghouti boast in their campaign speeches
that the Jews
are fleeing from Gaza because of the successful Arab struggle against
"Israeli
occupation". In fact, Abu Mazen says that whereas Israel calls the Arab
armed groups
murderers, "we call them successful strugglers". Abu Mazen further says:
"I will never
turn guns on my own people"!
Please permit me to remind you once again of my background. I have
written about this
before, but my childhood experience is most relevant to this discussion. I
was born in
Wiener Neustadt, an ancient city in southern Austria. According to the
Encyclopedia
Judaica, Wiener Neustadt was founded in the year 1192. Jews lived in this
city almost
from the very beginning. In fact, there are gravestones in the Jewish
Cemetery in Wiener
Neustadt, which date from 1252 and 1261.
Our family lived in Wiener Neustadt until November 9, 1938, until Krystall
Nacht, when
Hitler's storm troopers forcibly evicted all Jews from their homes in this
city. While
violently dragging us out of our house, they severely beat my mother for
not following
orders quickly enough. Within a few days after November 9, the city of
Wiener Neustadt
was successfully cleansed of its Jewish population. The Germans boasted
that now yet
another city was completely Judenrein.
Many people feel that there cannot and should not be comparison between
today's
situation and the Holocaust, and that such comparison is sacrilegious and
should not even
be permitted. There is no plan, they say, by the Sharon government to put
Jews into gas
chambers!
However, if we're honest with ourselves, there are frightening similarities.
Sharon's "Disengagement" Plan aims to make the Biblical lands of Gush
Katif and
Northern Samaria "Judenrein". In fact, on June 2 of this year, Prime
Minister Sharon was
quoted as saying "that there will be no Jews in Gaza or Northern Shomron
by the end of
2005". Just another way of saying that he promises that these areas will be
"Judenrein".
Some unfortunate comparisons can be made:
Jews lived in Wiener Neustadt for hundreds of years before this city was
made Judenrein
by the Nazis. Jews have been living in Gaza for thousands of years, and
now, Ariel
Sharon aims to follow the example of the Germans and make the rebuilt
Jewish
communities of Gaza Judenrein.
(There are many examples of Jewish presence in Gaza starting from
Biblical times, even
though the Arabs have recently tried to erase such evidence in order to
convince the
world of their Big Lie, that they are the original inhabitants of the Holy
Land.)
Another shameful example: Sharon has promised the Arabs, in an obscene
and immoral
gesture that the remains of Jews in Gaza be disinterred from their graves,
thus making
even the very soil Judenrein.
To my knowledge, the graves in the Jewish cemetery in Wiener Neustadt
dating from
1252 and 1261 are untouched.
Finally, an important difference: GERMAN STORM TROOPERS dragged my
family
out of our home. Sharon plans to compel JEWISH SOLDIERS AND JEWISH
POLICEMEN to do the same to their Jewish brethren.
In light of the above, I defy anyone to tell us Holocaust survivors that there
are no
similarities at all between November 9, 1938 (Kristall Nacht) and 2005, the
planned
expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and Samaria. Having said all that, I can
understand
that some Holocaust survivors feel that the orange Jewish Star campaign
should be
abandoned. Former Knesset speaker Dov Shilansky (Likud), a Holocaust
survivor
himself, said that any comparison to the Holocaust must be avoided "if it
will cause pain
to even one survivor."
That is the reason why the Gush Katif Holocaust survivors abandoned the
orange Star of
David campaign. We will now instead wear orange scarves to identify with
our Jewish
brethren in Gaza.
The noose is definitely tightening around our necks! A big headline on
page one in
today's Jerusalem Post reads: OLMERT UNVEILS "DISENGAGEMENT
PLAN 2" TO
POST. Olmert says "There is no option of sitting and doing nothing.
Israel's interest
requires a Disengagement on a wider scale than what will happen as part of
the current
Disengagement Plan."
There you have it! Con-